Home gardening and associations with fruit and vegetable intake and BMI

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:sec id="S1368980020001329_as1" sec-type="other"> <jats:title>Objective:</jats:title> <jats:p>To understand who engages in home gardening and whether gardening is associated with fruit and vegetable intake and weight status.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec id="S1368980020001329_as2" sec-type="other"> <jats:title>Design:</jats:title> <jats:p>A national cross-sectional survey.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec id="S1368980020001329_as3" sec-type="other"> <jats:title>Setting:</jats:title> <jats:p>Online survey panel in the USA.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec id="S1368980020001329_as4" sec-type="other"> <jats:title>Participants:</jats:title> <jats:p>Adults aged 18–75 years representing the US population with respect to gender, age, race/ethnicity, income and geographic region (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> 3889).</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec id="S1368980020001329_as5" sec-type="other"> <jats:title>Results:</jats:title> <jats:p>Approximately 30 % of survey respondents reported growing edible plants in a home garden. Gardeners were more likely to be White or Asian, employed, have higher income, be married, have children in the household and live in rural areas. Gardeners were less likely to be obese and more likely to meet US dietary recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption. In multivariable analyses, home gardens remained associated with fruit and vegetable intake and BMI when controlling for a range of socio-demographic characteristics and level of rurality.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec id="S1368980020001329_as6" sec-type="other"> <jats:title>Conclusions:</jats:title> <jats:p>The current study identifies who is gardening in the USA and provides useful information for public health efforts to increase gardening as a nutrition intervention. Future research should examine the benefits of home gardening and interventions to increase home gardening using more rigorous designs.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

The Association Between Home or Community Garden Access and Adolescent Health

“…This study suggests that access to a HCG has a positive relationship with vegetable intake, a significant contributor to adolescent and adult health. 14,26 Results indicated that students ate more vegetables on average than fruit and ate significantly more vegetables with access to a HCG while having a higher self-perception of health. Adolescent fruit and vegetable access and consumption should continue to be examined and evaluated as a potential tool for changing nutrition-related behavior.…”

Exploring food consumers’ motivations to fight both climate change and biodiversity loss: Combining insights from behavior theory and Eurobarometer data

“…The present study suggests the potential of concerns about biodiversity loss for also motivating diet changes, because this topic has received much less attention. However, several studies show significant correlations between adult gardening (home gardening or participation in urban gardening) and higher intakes of fruits and vegetables and, to a lesser extent, reducing intakes of processed foods and meat, although the research does not allow causal interpretations (Freeman et al, 2012;Garcia, Ribeiro, Germani, & Bógus, 2018;Beavers, Atkinson, & Alaimo, 2020;Kegler et al, 2020).…”

Is School Gardening Combined with Physical Activity Intervention Effective for Improving Childhood Obesity? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…BMI and WC are easily obtainable and have proved to be strong predictors of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in adults and children [ 42 ]. Many scholars of the United States and other developed countries have used SGA to explore its impact on children’s BMI and other anthropometric outcomes [ 43 , 44 , 45 ]. Therefore, we systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed the effects of SGA on anthropometric outcomes of school-age children (7–12 years old), gathering experimental information on BMI and WC changes in SGA and other interventions.…”